Dehydrating apparatus.



E. W. 000KB. DEHYDRATING APPARATUS. APPLICATION FILED MAY 27, 1905.

Patnted 'De0. 1913.

7 [wag/W012 772 65 i 00 0 1% 6 4 "Alfamey i a TE Pdfifllhlhi ERNESTWELLIAM GQGKE, OF NEW YGEK, N. Y., ASSKGNGB TO GOKEL CQMRANY, sh.

' GORPOM'IION F HEW' JERSEY.

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Specification of Letters lstentl Patented x3,

Application filed May 2?, 1905. Serial 3&0. $362,615.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, ERNEST WILLIAM Coons, citizen of the United States,residing at New York, in the county of New York and State of New York,have invented new and useful Improvements in Dehydrating Apparatus, ofwhich the following is a specification.

My invention relates to apparatus for dehydrating animal and vegetablesubstances and is more particularly designed for the dehydration ofsucculent food products, although it is not in any way limited thereto.

I have found that in order that succulent food products may hedehydrated without injuring the structure or texture thereof, so

that they can afterward be perfectly restored to their originalundehydrated condition by .the simple addition of water, it is essentialto pass air under more or less pres.

sure, and usuallyair which has itself been previously dried by suitableair dryiin means or materials entirely through sai products alternatelyfrom opposite sides.

The term air is used herein as meaning atmospheric air or any othersuitable vapor or gas.

The object therefore, of my present invention is to provide an apparatusby the use of which the process outlined above can be successfully andconveniently carried out. In the said drawing-Figure 1 is a sideelevation of my invention, part of the piping being sectioned to showthe construction of the valves, and Fig. 2 is a central vertical sectionof Fig. 1, with certain parts omitted. In these figures, 10 represents acasing or receptacle in which the substances are treated, the same beingclosed at the bottom and provided with a removable cover 9, secured bythe clamping means shown, or otherwise.

The substance to be treated is placed usually as a granular perviouslayer on to the other.

Perforated "plates 4 and 5 are provided below, andabove the tier oftrays" for the purpose of rendering the flow of air uniform andthoroughly difi'using the air over the entire surface of the products.The lower plate may remain permanently in the easing or receptacle,although preferably it is removable, while the upper plate 5 which isnecessarily removable may rest on the up permost tray, as shown. It willbe obvious that, when products are to be placed in the casing orreceptacle, the cover 9 is taken off, the trays inserted one after theother and finally the plate 5. To remove the trays the proceeding isreversed.

At each end of the casing or receptacle 10 are provided an air-inletlandan air-outlet. The air outlet at the top is indicated by 11, and that atthe bottom by 12, while the airinlet at the top is marked 13 and that atthe bottom 14. From the outlet 1.1, apipe 15 extends downwardly to avalve 20, arranged adjacent the side of the receptacle, while a similarpipe 16 extends upwardly from the outlet 12 to the said valve. Similarpipw 17 and 18 connect the inlets 13 and let to the valve 30, arrangedsimilarly to the valve 2th An air supply pipe 31 leads to the valve 30and an air exhaust pipe 21 leads from the valve 20. The said valvescontain cylindrical or conical plugs 22 and 32 respectively, providedwith passages, which are adapted to place either the pipe 17 or the pipe18 in communication with the air so ply pipe 31, and either the pipe 15or t e pipe 16 in communication with. the air exhaust pipe 21. i a

The valve plugs 22 and 32 are connected to turn simultaneously by thegears and 33, which at the same time permit the relativeangularpositions of the plugs to be varied by slipping said gears out ofmesh and rotating one of them and its connected valve plug through thespace of one or more teeth.

It will be seen that with the valves in the osition shown in thedrawing, air forced in at- 31 as by the fan shown at 49, will pass pipe18 instead of up through pipe 17 enters the receptacle at 14, is forcedupwardly through the trays and passes out at 11 through pipe 15 to thevalve 20 and exhaust pipe 21.

In order to get the best results in 'deliydrating succulent food roductsit is generally necessary to retard the flow of the air so as to causeit to be under a greater pressure than it otherwise would be under andthereby thoroughly permeate, the pores, or

spaces between the cells of theproducts, and

The mechanism shown, by way of example only, consists of the followingparts: A cranlcdislt 4t), driven by a belt 41 from any source. of power,i'eciprocatcs by means of the connecting rod 42. a bar 43, mounted insuitable guides 44, which may project from the receptacle 10 or beotherwise supported. The bar 43 carries a pair of oppositely facingpivoted pawls 4-5 and 46, adapted to be raised into operative positionby magnets 47 and 48, carried by said bar, the circuits 5t and 52oF saidmagnets being closed at predetermined intervals by a suitable timingmechanism, herein illustrated diagrannuatically as a clock 50. ranged toattract the tails of the pawls, the front ends of the latter beingheavier, so that they fall to inoperative position when the magnets aredeenergized. Attached to one of the valve plugs, as 32, is a spur-gear34, somewhatsmaller than the gear 33, and a segment-gear 35 is mountedso as to mesh with said gear 34. The segment-gear is provided with atail 36, which is adapted to be engaged by the pawls 45 and 46, whenthey are raised into operative position by the magnets. Suitable stops37 are provided to prevent said segment from slipping out of mesh withthe gear 34.

In dehydrating succulent vegetable foods by the present apparatus theyare desiccated in such a manner as to lose only what is, so to speak,the Water mechanically present without losing water chemically resent aswater of constitution or the v0 atile oily bodies which give the aromaand taste to ordinary. foods, so that such dehydrated bodies onre-hydration by treatment with water will reassume the condition of theoriginal material.

The magnets are ar- Having thus described my invention but withoutlimiting myself to the exact form of apparatus shown, What I claimis: 1. A dehydrating apparatus comprising a closed reccptiuzle adaptcdto receive the substance to be treated, air-forcing means for creating acurrent of air, connections leading from said means to twooppositc endsof the receptacle, timing means and means controlled by said timingmeans for periodically diverting the flow of air from each of saidconnections to the other.

2. A dehydrating apparatus comprising a closed receptacle adapted toreceive the subst ancg to be treated 'air-forci'ng means for creating acurrent ot air, valved connections leading from said means to twoopposite ends of the receptacle, and automatically controlled means forcontrolling the flow of air through the valves of said connections tointermittently reverse the direction of flow of the air through thereceptacle.

3. A dehydratin apparatus comprising a closed receptacle tor thesubstances to be treated, means to create a current of, air, means toconvey said air into and out of said receptacle, and automatically andperiodically controlled valve mechanism in said air-conveying means,and'means controlling said valve mechanism to automatically and toperiodically reverse the direction of the current of air in saidreceptacle.

4. A dehydrating apparatus comprising a closed receptacle adapted toreceive superimposed trays containing the substances to be treated, anair-inlet and'an air-outlet at each end of said receptacle, a valve towhich said air-inlets are connected and a second valve to which saidair-outlets are connected, an air supply pipe leading to saidfirst-mentioned valve and an air-exhaust pipe leading from said secondvalve, and means to periodically actuate said valves to reverse thedirection of flow ofthe air through the receptacle.

5. A. dehydrating apparatus comprising a closed receptacle adapted toreceive superimposed trays containing the substances. to be treated, anair-inlet and an air-outlct at each end of said receptacle, a valve towhich said air-inlets are connected and a second valve to which saidair-outlets are connected,

an air supply pipe leading to said first-mentioned valve and means toautomatically actuate said valves at predetermined intervals of time toreverse the direction of flow of the air through the receptacle.

(5. A dehydrating apparatus comprising a closed receptacle to receivethe substances to be treated, two. air-pipes each communicating with-theopposite ends of said receptacle, valves in said pipes, means to forceair into one of said pipes and means to periodically actuate said valvesto reverse the l flow of the air through the receptacle.

tive positions to actuate said valves to reverse the direction of flowof the air through said receptacle, magnets carried by said member andadapted when energized to move said pawls into operative ositions and atiming mechanism to contro the circuits of said magnets.

8. A dehydrating apparatus comprising a closed receptacle adapted toreceive trays containing the substances to be treated, means to admitair into either end of said receptacle, and means to remove it fromeither end thereof, said last mentioned means being constructed andarranged to retard the flow of the air and thereby maintain it under acertain pressure, and means to intermittently change the direction offlow of the air through said receptacle.

9. A dehydrating apparatus comprising a closed receptacle adapted toreceive trays containing the substances to be treated, means to admitair into either end of said receptacle, and means to remove it fromeither end thereof means to diffuse the entering air over the entiresuperficial area of the trays and means to reverse the direc-.

tion of flow of the air at predetermined intervals of time.

10. A dehydrating appar'atus comprising a closed receptacle adapted toreceive trays containing the substances to be treated, means to admitair into either end of said receptacle, and means to remove it fromeither end thereof, valves to control the flow of the air through saidreceptacle, means to simultaneously actuate saidvalves to reverse thedirection of flow, and means to diffuse the entering air over the entiresuperficial area of the trays.

11. A dehydrating apparatus comprising a closed receptacle adapted toreceive a superimposed series of perforated trays containing thesubstances to be treated, an air inlet and an air-outlet pipecommunicating with each end of said receptacle, means to 1 force airinto said receptacle at one end and out from the other, and means toperiodically reverse the direction of the air passing through saidreceptacle.

12. A dehydrating apparatus comprising a receptacle adapted to receivesubstances to be treated, a connection to each end adapted to serve asan inlet for air, means for supplying air to such inlets, a connectionat each end to serve as an air outlet, suitable valves for the outletconnection and for the inlet connection and means for simultaneouslyopening valves to permit inflow of air through an inlet at one end ofsaid receptacle and outflow through an outlet at the other end.

13. A dehydrating apparatus comprising a receptacle adapted to receivesubstances to be treated, a connection to each end adapted to serve asan inlet for air, means for supplying air to such inlets, a connectionat each end to serve as an air outlet, suitable valves for the outletconnection and for the inlet connection and means for simultaneouslyopening valves to permit inflow of air through an inlet at one end ofsaid receptacle and outflow through an outlet at the other end whileclosing valves of an outlet at the inflow end and of an inlet at theoutflow end.

14:. A dehydrating apparatus comprising a receptacle adapted to receivesubstances to be treated, a connection to each end adapted to serve asan inlet for air, means for supplying air to such inlets, a connectionat each end to serve as an air outlet, a valve adapted to alternatelyopen and close each inlet connection, a valve adapted to alternatelyopen and close each' outlet connection and means for coupling the valvesin such manner as to permit inflow atone end of said receptacle andoutflow at the other while closing the other inlet and outlet.

15;. An alternating air current apparatus for dehydrating succulentvegetables comprising a receptacle for such foods, an air inlet and anan outlet at each end, a source of air under pressure, valved means forsupplying air. from such source to each of said inlets, the connectionsbetween such source and such inlets being of the same type so that airof the same character may be fed to each end in alternation, valvedmeans for controlling such outlets and valve-connecting means forsimultaneously opening an inlet at one end and an outlet at the otherwhile closing the other outlet and inlet.

In testimony whereof I aiiix m signature, in presence of two subscribingwitnesses.

ERNEST WILLIAM COOKE.

